 Older Article | Newer Article |
[V8SC] Mission accomplished
by Signature Series Group
Mission accomplished
21 February, 2010
Karl Reindler’s debut into the V8 Supercar Championship Series at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi last weekend provided the 24-year old Perth resident with a little bit of everything. From a strong opening practice session, to mechanical failure, and a drive back through the field in the final race to a 23rd finishing position, it really was a character building weekend.
“It was a great weekend,” Karl admitted, “I really enjoyed working closely with the Brad Jones Racing (BJR) team, it was great to finally get in the car and start the championship.”
Having experienced competition across the globe in a variety of different machines, the former Australian Formula 3 champion was cautious about predicting too much from his first event, but admitted pre-race that he would expect to be in the top 20, especially considering this was the first event at the new state-of-the-art Middle-Eastern facility.
Eighth in his opening practice session (bottom 50% of the field), Karl improved in session two but only ran limited laps in the third practice session after a minor mechanical issue limited his track-time, before finishing the final session in 24th place, mere thousandths of a second behind former Bathurst 1000 winner, Todd Kelly.
Qualifying saw further improvement from the Fair Dinkum Homes & Sheds team, Karl classified 24th at the close of the session, just three tenths off a top 20 start, but what was more impressive was his overall improvement, Karl finding three tenths of a second over the pace of the leaders between practice and qualifying.
Race two started in twilight on Friday night, and Karl admitted to nerves as he sat on the grid for the opening race of the season.
“We struggled to find a good consistent balance in the car during practice, so I was looking forward to the race, but I must admit I was a little nervous sitting in the car waiting for the start. All that changed though when the flag dropped!”
Sadly for Karl as the flag dropped, so did the revs, the Fair Dinkum Homes & Sheds Commodore stalling on the grippy track surface, Karl not the only victim, team-mate Jason Bright at the front of the field suffering a similar fate.
“I used more throttle than I’ve ever used before but with so much grip [on the surface of the track] I just couldn’t get the car off the line, it was probably a blessing in disguise as I managed to stay out of the lap one chaos. After that I found a rhythm and just worked on improving my pace and the balance of the car.”
Karl steadily improved his lap times to set a fastest lap of 2:01.1150 on lap 23, a time just 11 one thousandths slower than the fastest lap of reigning Bathurst champion Garth Tander.
On lap 23 of 43 though, Karl made his second and final pitstop, the team diagnosing a header failure [exhaust header]. “That was disappointing. Considering of the three BJR cars I had the newest set of headers, it was an unusual failure, and whilst it was one of those unexpected things, it was disappointing not to be able to get the full quota of laps.”
Starting afresh for round two on Saturday, Karl improved again during qualifying, finding another tenth of a second over the pace of the leaders, to put himself on the thirteenth row. “I was happy with that, but disappointed not to complete my final ‘hot’ lap after coming into traffic in the final sector; at that point data had me up four tenths of a second on my best lap; but it is what it is, 25th starting position - it was an improvement, and that is what we need to be doing right now.”
Second time around the #21 BJR Commodore launched perfectly off the line, slotting in to the midfield on the run into turn one. “The start went well and I moved forward a couple of positions until I came up to a spinning Steven Richards and had to take evasive action which cost me track position. From there it was just a matter of putting my head down and conserving. Sadly though we had a problem during the first pit stop (lap 10); we had a mechanical failure with a wheel gun that lost us 20 plus seconds, which put me to the back of the pack again.
“The second half of the race was a little boring as I was on track with no one to battle with, but on the plus side I got to play around with the car balance and keep improving my lap times - it was great to get a full race distance under my belt.”
At the close of the second 43-lapper, Karl had not only improved his position over the closing laps to claim 23rd position, but he also set a lap time faster than the experience Todd Kelly, and had improved his speed against the pace of the front runners by more than six tenths of a second [2:00.1190]; his best lap just over a second off the fastest lap of the race, a significant psychological boost heading into the second race of the season at Bahrain in just six days time.
“It was a great weekend all up despite the problems, and I have really enjoyed getting to work closely with the whole BJR team. For now it’s on to Bahrain and I’ll be spending this next week getting to know the guys even better on the run up to the next race.”
Karl Reindler is proudly supported by Brad Jones Racing, Fair Dinkum Homes & Sheds, No Fear, Oakley, Biante, Thomson Aviation and Bostech Drilling.
2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series
1. Jamie Whincup (Holden) - 300 points
2. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) - 267
3. Craig Lowndes (Holden) - 249
4. Shane van Gisbergen (Ford) - 231
5. James Courtney (Ford) - 222
6. Lee Holdsworth (Holden) - 207
7. Rick Kelly (Holden) - 198
8. Paul Dumbrell (Ford) - 165
9. Steven Johnson (Ford) - 152
10. Jonathon Webb (Ford) - 141
27. Karl Reindler (Fair Dinkum Homes & Sheds Holden Commodore) - 36
2010 V8 Supercar Calendar
#2 Desert 400, Bahrain (27-28 February)
#3 Clipsal 500, Adelaide, SA (11-14 March)
#4 AGP, Albert Park, VIC (25-28 March)
#5 ITM 400, Hamilton, NZ (16-18 April)
#6 Ipswich 300, QLD (30-2 May)
#7 Winton, VIC (14-16 May)
#8 Hidden Valley, Darwin, NT (18-20 June)
#9 Townsville 400, QLD (9-11 July)
#10 L&H 500, Phillip Island, VIC (10-12 September)
#11 Supercheap Auto 1000, Bathurst, NSW (7-10 October)
#12 Gold Coast Supercarnival, QLD (22-24 October)
#13 Falken Tasmania Challenge, TAS (12-14 November)
#14 Norton 360 Sandown Challenge, VIC (19-21 November)
#15 Telstra 500, Sydney, NSW (3-5 December)
| Older Article | Newer Article |
| Browse 'V8 SUPERCARS' | |
| Browse 'V8 SUPERCARS' Archive | |
